Police Begin Move Into New Home

EAST HARTFORD — Animal Control Officer Robert McCabe looked around the brightly lit locker room in the town's public safety complex and exclaimed proudly, ``This is it.''

``This is absolutely state of the art. There's no comparison,'' McCabe said Monday as the town's police department began moving into the new complex on School Street.

The fire department's administration started moving over the weekend from its headquarters on Main Street.

By Wednesday, the police and fire departments, Firehouse No. 3 and the town's dispatchers expect to start working full time out of the new complex.

Police Chief Mark Sirois said the public will hardly notice the ``seamless'' move and there would be no time when the 911 system is not operating.

Movers from Windsor-based Commercial Moving Services spent Monday hauling dozens of boxes of files, equipment and other items to the new building. Officers also started moving their belongings.

McCabe showed off his locker, which is twice the size of his old one in the soon to be abandoned police station on Tolland Street. The new locker has enough space to stow his equipment and uniforms easily and even has an electrical outlet.

McCabe then walked a short distance, opened the door to his new office, which is about 20 feet by 20 feet, and smiled. ``I had a desk in the basement,'' he said dryly.

The police department, which has operated for about 50 years out of about 15,000 square feet at 497 Tolland St., will occupy about 60,000 square feet in the new, 93,000-square-foot complex next door on School Street.

The old building is too outdated even to renovate and will be razed to make way for parking and an impoundment area.

Officer Hugo Benettieri, police spokesman, predicted that the new complex would be a great place to work.

``It will be a big morale booster. Officers will be able to take pride. We're really excited,'' he said. ``We'll have rooms for interviewing and to talk to people in private. We won't have to apologize to visitors anymore about the lack of privacy.''

Sirois said everyone in his department has helped in the move, and in many cases did more than what was required. ``This has been phenomenal,'' Sirois said. ``The men and women of this department have pitched in. They've stepped in and done more than they had to do.''

Benettieri said that sometime in the near future the department would have an open house to show the new headquarters.